Murder suspect declines first deal
By Jack Stephens
Published in News on May 2, 2006 1:50 PM
A Wayne County man accused of taking part in a double murder on New Year's Day in 2004 has declined a plea bargain -- at least for the time being -- that would have eliminated the possibility of back-to-back life sentences.
Telly T. Cox, 24, of LaGrange Road, LaGrange, was given two more weeks to decide to accept the state's offer of a lengthy prison sentence or risk being sentenced to two life terms if he goes on trial and is convicted.
Cox had refused to sign the plea arrangement until his mother could see it, said a source close to the case. Cox's defense lawyers could not find the mother Friday.
Assistant District Attorneys Claud Ferguson and Jan Kroboth said during the hearing that they would not seek the death penalty.
Cox was accused of taking part in the fatal shooting of Michael Shawn Maynard, 30, and Christie Nicole Jones, 25. They were killed at about 3 a.m. Jan. 1, 2004, in Maynard's mobile home on Garrick Lane.
A co-defendant, Christopher Lee Brown, 22, of Forest Knolls Road, pleaded guilty Jan. 19 to two counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced to consecutive life terms.
Like Brown, Cox was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping and one count of attempted first-degree rape and armed robbery.
The only witness to the crimes was Maynard's 7-year-old daughter who was visiting from another state. She hid in a closet during the shootings. Before Miss Jones died, she told the little girl to call 911. She did call but hung up on dispatchers. Sheriff's deputies responded to the hang-up call and found the bodies.
Deputies canvassed the neighborhoods and quickly developed Brown and Cox as the suspects. Brown was found that night by Goldsboro police on Elm Street. Cox was found four hours later.
Miss Jones had been injured seriously in a vehicle collision four months earlier in Wake County and still needed help to get around. Authorities said she was visiting Maynard, a friend, to celebrate the new year and to paint his daughter's fingernails.
Sheriff Carey Winders said the motive for the slayings was robbery. Cox and Brown were accused of stealing two .22 caliber rifles, a box of shells and a crossbow.
A third defendant who drove the getaway car -- Alonza Sonye Bedell, 21, of Hunters Creek Drive -- pleaded guilty to two counts of being an accessory after an assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill while inflicting serious injury. She will be sentenced after Cox's case is resolved.